Three Canadian hurdlers qualify for semifinals

Lolo Jones of the United States jumps over a hurdle alongside Phylicia George of Canada in the Women's 100m Hurdles heat on Day 10 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 6, 2012 in London, England.

Photograph by: Hannah Johnston
, Getty Images

LONDON — Maybe, Phylicia George suggests, it's something in Canada's drinking water that's breeding great female hurdlers. Genetics, coaching and support at many levels might have something to do with it, too.

Whatever it is, the quality of women's hurdling was splendidly showcased Monday at Olympic Stadium, with all three of the nation's entries advancing to Tuesday's semifinals. The fastest eight in the three semis will advance to the final later Tuesday.

George, Jessica Zelinka and Nikkita Holder made it through the first round, Zelinka and George qualifying by finishing top three in their heats, Holder getting through as one of the six fastest times of the rest.

Depth? Canada left Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, the 2008 Beijing bronze medallist, and former world champion Perdita Felicien at home, neither veteran qualifying for the Olympic squad.

Zelinka was second in her heat in 12.75 seconds, 1/10th off her personal best. George ran second in 12.83, while Holder was fifth in her heat in 12.93.

Zelinka was returning to the stadium after having taken a day away to decompress from her gruelling two-day, seventh-place heptathlon. And she admitted she felt it in her muscles.

"I didn't do a warm-up yesterday. I just decided to rest," she said, a change in routine from working out lightly between hep and hurdles at the Canadian trials in late June. "This morning I woke up a little more sore. This is my warm-up day and [Tuesday] is my race day. I found my legs again. This is a reminder, 'Body, you're not done, and tomorrow keep it going even more.'

"Once I got to the track, I trusted it would come," Zelinka said of her racing mindset. "I was just so tired. I was almost going into energy conservation mode all day [Sunday] and this morning I was like, 'I'm not going there yet. I'm going to conserve a little bit longer.' "

When she left the stadium Saturday night, crushed by her heptathlon performance, Zelinka said she most needed a hug from her three-year-old daughter, Anika. She finally got that embrace Sunday.

"It was the best hug ever," she said, laughing. "I don't know if Anika knew, but it was like the best hug I've ever got from her. It was like her PB [personal-best] hug."

Holder was the second Canadian to run Monday, and her fifth-place finish in a fast heat left her waiting to learn whether she'd advance.

"Having to wait just sucks," Holder said. "You get anxious, jittery, but [the race] wasn't too bad. It wasn't my best start. Hopefully, if I make it through, I can fine-tune things in the semifinals. My start has been doing good in practice, it just didn't correlate on the track. Hopefully, I get a second chance at it. It would be wicked, great, if all three of us make it through."

Holder wasn't at the track the night before to watch her finance, Canadian sprinter Justyn Warner, race his semifinal.

"He banned me from going to his race because I had to get up so early," she said brightly. "I watched on TV and was stupid nervous and crazy, but he did a good run."

George said she didn't like the latter part of her own race, although she was pleased with her start.

"I left a lot on the track," she said. "I wasn't super-pleased with it. We've been training and haven't really raced in awhile. I was getting all the rusty stuff out of there. I'll definitely be working on the latter part of the race and focusing on the last three hurdles."

George figures it will take a 12.6 or a low 12.7 to qualify for the final.

"My PB is 12.72, so it's definitely within range," she said.

Elsewhere, Canadian shot putter Julie Labonte failed to qualify for her final, lobbing 17.48 and 17.32 metres then fouling on her last try to finish 23rd.

But 800-metre runner Geoff Harris moved into his semi with a second-place heat run of 1:45.97.

"That was a nice comfortable race, there's definitely more there. I've got another gear for sure. Speed-wise, I can run with the best," Harris said. "I was patient. I knew they would come up on me. I got boxed in a bit but I didn't panic and just ran my race, that was the key."

And Canada's two entries in the women's 1,500 both advanced to the semifinals. Hillary Stellingwerff was sixth in her heat in 4:05.79 while Nicole Sifuentes's 4:07.65, a finish of seventh in her race, carried her through on time.

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Lolo Jones of the United States jumps over a hurdle alongside Phylicia George of Canada in the Women's 100m Hurdles heat on Day 10 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium on August 6, 2012 in London, England.

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